THEY may have come last at Eurovision - but that won't stop them taking on the world.

Jemini, the Liverpool duo who became the first ever UK entry to score the infamous "nul points" at Saturday's song contest in the Latvian capital Riga, returned to Britain yesterday determined to score a homeland hit with the pop ditty Cry Baby.

Despite seemingly impeccable credentials in coming from the UK's capital of pop, with a song written by the head of music at Sir Paul McCartney's fame school, the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, they became the first entry from this country in 47 years not to register a single point.

Sir Paul had even sent a good luck message to the pair and promised he would be rooting for them.

But neither Gemma Abbey, from Aigburth, or Dingle's Chris Cromby could have imagined that they would make the record books as the worst entrants to represent the UK, finishing bottom of a list of 26 countries, headed by Turkey.

To add insult to injury, their dressing room was vandalised as the media picked through the ruins of their night at the post-contest press conference.

"We gave it our best shot and, when we went out on stage, all the British flags were flying and the crowd was really rooting for us.

"It wasn't the result we wanted, but we'd still do Eurovision again."

Gemma, 22, said: "We came here expecting to win and to not even get a single point is a shock to the system. When the response came in, we were mortified.

"As soon as the show was over, we phoned home and our families were distraught for us.

"I know Liverpool and the whole of Britain must be too, but we're not giving up."

The song was written by Martin Isherwood, from LIPA, and he last night blamed the song's performance on Britain's isolationist stance over Iraq.

Mr Isherwood said: "I think politically we are out on a limb at the moment. As a country, I think we paid the price."

His comments were echoed by one of the duo's managerial team, Mike Cockayne, who told the Daily Post that it was not enough to blame a lacklustre performance for the result.

He said: "It was live television and things can go wrong, they weren't helped by a couple of technical hitches, but if anyone has any queries about their stage presence they should come and check them out.

"We feel there may have been many other issues at work and that it might have been a tough year for the UK to enter."

Now the duo, who met at the Starlite Performing Arts School in Liverpool as teenagers, are hoping the British public will help put their disappointment behind them by rushing out to buy their single, released today.

Chris, the youngest of six brothers and a full-time singer with Gemma, added: "We feel we can hold our heads high, the single is out, and we'll be promoting it like mad."

Although receiving no points for your efforts at the Eurovision Song Contest can be hard to accept, the notoriety it brings can boost a performer's career and ironically the "nul points" tag could rocket Jemini to fame.

The duo can take heart from the legend of Norwegian singer Jahn Teigan, who received zero in 1978 for his over-the-top performance of the song Mile After Mile.

Following the contest, he went from homeland obscurity to one of Norway's top television presenters, owner of one of the country's most successful breweries and a musical career which continues today, even earning the accolade of an impersonator on his native Stars in Their Eyes.

Mr Cockayne agreed that sales could be boosted by their failure in front of a TV audience of 150m people.

He said: "It's an interesting scenario that we now face, it's certainly better to be notorious than mediocre."

Eurovision started in 1956. The UK celebrated its first victory in 1967 with Sandie Shaw's rendition of Puppet On A String. Lulu then won in 1969 with Boom Bang A Bang and Brotherhood of Man came first in 1976 with Save Your Kisses For Me.

Next to win for the UK was Bucks Fizz in 1981 with their chart-topper Making Your Mind Up.

In 1997, Britain had its most recent win when Katrina and the Waves sang Love Shine A Light.